Blix: Iraq makes no ‘genuine’ effort to disarm

Saddam Hussein has stepped through the tripwire for war.

Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix submitted his report to the General Assembly, stating that Iraq is making no ‘genuine’ effort to disarm.

Despite the softness of the report – actually, it appears stronger than some skeptics had anticipated – it proves that the Iraqi regime continues to deceive the UN and thus triggers a casus belli for immediate military action.

US Ambassador to the UN John Negroponte says the days of UN inspectors are over. Inspections alone, he said, cannot work “when a country has an active program of denial and deception, as is the case with Iraq.”

Even so, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan appears willing to let Saddam continue violating the 17 UN resolutions, urging that the inspectors be given more time.

Last week the White House issued a damning report on Iraq’s “apparatus of deception.” For a copy, click here.